This Place Will Always Be Ours
by Lycan.Kallias
Summary: The place always made him sad. Gaara figured it was the perfect place to die. But before he can leap, a stranger pulls him back. What is it that makes the blue eyes so sad? Could the blond be his reason to live? AU. NaruGaa.


**For some strange reason, I keep visiting this place and crying. This story is the love child of random places, my Spill Canvas CD, an overactive imagination and an unhealthy NaruGaa addiction...**

**Notes: I don't own Naruto, none of the characters belong to me. This story is about suicide and there's character death occurring. There is some NaruGaa, nothing over the top though. Enjoy.  
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****This Place Will Always Be Ours  
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Blond hair blew softly in the wind, tossing back and forth with each shift. He stared down at the water 167 feet below him. The water was dark and as he stared down at it, he felt misery reach up from the depths and grab onto him, pulling him down. It brought tears to his eyes, made everything seem hopeless, but still he loved the bridge. He found it ironic the structure's name meant 'dawn'. Dawn to him meant light, happiness, a new beginning, hope. Maybe somebody had been making fun of this bridge when they named it the Aurora Bridge. It was one of the deadliest bridges in America, second only to the Golden Gate Bridge, because of all the suicide jumpers that had chosen this to be the place they spent their last moments on earth.

That thought alone made him sad... made him cry. He watched his tears fall over the ledge until they disappeared in the distance to connect with the small river that would drain into the ocean, making his tears become part of the entire world. That thought made him smile. He wasn't sure why he always came to this bridge. It was not a good place to be with such sad, horrible thoughts, but the bridge had always called to him.

His elbows rested on the concrete railing and he leaned forward, trying to think of the actual name of the structure, when a reflection in the water caught his attention. At first he wondered how he could see it. The sky was overcast as usual and there seemed to be no light on the waters surface to see anything but the cold despair of the liquid. The next thing he noticed was the reflected person climbing the railing. His head snapped in the direction the person should have been.

A slim redhead stared at the water below him as his legs and hands pulled him onto the railing. The blond rushed towards the male, feet slapping against the concrete walkway, desperation pulling him forward faster than he had ever ran before. When he was a few yards away, he slowed into a hurried walk, then a normal saunter, knowing there wasn't really anything he could do for the potential jumper. The redhead only looked over at him when he was a few feet away, leaning on the rail right beside him.

The lean boy stared at the blond for several minutes before going back to his task of trying to climb over the ledge. It didn't matter that there was someone beside him, he was going to finish what he had come to do. "What are you doing?" The man spoke. The redhead jumped at the sound of his deep voice and turned his head back to the blue eyed stranger.

"Leave me alone." He growled, lifting a leg over the edge. A bronzed, frigid hand wrapped around a slim pale wrist. Their eyes met. The deep sapphire eyes held such sadness that it forced the pale boy to freeze once more.

"What are doing?" He asked again.

Teal eyes lowered to the waters below that screamed melancholy. "I'm going to die tonight." He whispered. He wasn't sure why he answered the blonds question. Maybe he wanted to leave some kind of memory behind in someone who didn't hate him, someone who didn't scorn him on sight, someone who's eyes didn't wish death upon him. All he knew was he felt the need to share something with the strange man beside him. The strange man who, like the river below screamed hurt, depression... despair like no other he had ever known.

"Why?" The blond was genuinely curious about the young mans wish to die.

"Why do you want to know?"

A sad smile spread across the taller mans face. "I want to know if I should let you."

The answer threw the redhead for a loop. He frowned, knowing it was a way to stall, a way to convince him not to jump, but the odd feeling of needing to share his reasons with the stranger pulled the words from his mouth. "I don't have a reason to live. My family hates me. My father blames the death of my mother on me, he takes his anger out on me... my body. My brother and sister turn away from it. They don't care because I took their mother from them, because I'm a useless freak. I can feel the hate in their eyes when they look at me. I can hear all the whispered words. At school I'm isolated. They don't physically raise a hand to me, but their words are flung at me and cut me so deep. I just can't take anymore. There is no one who calls me friend or even acquaintance. There is no one I can turn to. No one who cares." And despite how he willed them not to, tears slid from his teal orbs and left a freezing trail down his face. "I pretend I'm okay with being alone, but I'm lonely. So lonely. I can't bare it any more. I can't stand it anymore!This hollow feeling in my chest just keeps expanding with every day, hour, breath. I don't know waits for me in death, but I know it must be better than this. How do I go on living when I'm so dead inside?" His tears poured freely and he hung his head, pressing it to the cold barrier between him and his end, leg lowered sometime during his speech.

The hand left his wrist and landed on his head softly. "Have you tried reaching out to others? Maybe you need to hold your hand out to them first?" The head beneath the golden hand shook in despondently.

"Who could I approach? There is no one left. They know me for the monster I am. The horrible, inhuman, unfeeling monster I was born as..."

A sob shook the body beneath his hand and the blonds face became anguished. "Inhuman? Unfeeling? You're tears are proof of your humanity. They _are_ your feelings. How can you call yourself a monster when you came here to die because of the feelings pulling you down?" The red head looked up at him and he offered the shorter male a soft smile. "Don't let them pull you into the waters below us. There is always a way. Even if you don't see it now. There is always hope." A tear escaped the sapphire eyes. "Always."

The young man watched as tears fell from the other males eyes in awe. He wasn't sure if they were tears for him or for some other reason he could not know of, but his heart believed they were shed for him. "Don't cry." He whispered as the street lamps clicked to life all around them as the sky darkened steadily. "I'm sure something better is waiting for me." The blond gave him a watery smile.

"How can I not when someone so young wants to throw his life from a bridge and leave everyone who knew him behind? What else can I do?"

"No one will miss me."

"How do you know?"

"I'm certain of it."

"I would miss you if you jump tonight."

All the breath left the slender body of the redhead at the words and he stared at the peculiar blond man dumbly. His heart ached as those words echoed within him and his tears fell anew. He was certain he had heard wrong. He had to have misheard the man. They didn't know each other at all, how could he miss him.

The next words the blond spoke made it seem as if the boy had said his thoughts aloud. "I have not known you more than a few minutes, that's true, but that misery, that silent scream of anguish in your eyes reminds me of my own." Blue-green eyes connected with deep blue, searched them desperately, and the pale redhead found it was true. The hollow hunger, the mournful sorrow he saw everyday in his reflection resonated in the taller mans eyes. "Life sucks. Simple as that. It's hard, it's painful, it will beat happiness and hope from you, but you've got to believe it gets better. It can. Don't throw it away before it does."

Fear seized the smaller male, making his chest tighten and the air around him seem hard to pull in. "What if it doesn't? What if it never gets better?" Small pale hands squeezed at the thin fabric of his shirt above his heart, but his eyes did not leave the blond man before him.

The bronzed man shook his head slowly. "No. You've got to believe it gets better. You can't think like that."

"You make it sound so easy." He moaned, arms wrapping around his chest as if to hold himself together. Strong arms wrapped around his thin frame and the action calmed him instantly. The chest was cold beneath his cheek, but warmth spread throughout them slowly. The redhead wasn't sure when his hands had moved, but they were around the blonds waist before he knew it. His body shook violently. He could not recall a time he had ever felt so safe... so wanted, than in the strong arms of the man he did not know.

The sky was deep purple when they pulled back and the blond broke into the peace the boy was feeling without shattering it. "It isn't easy. It's hard, but in the end, I'm sure it will all be worth it. Happiness is nothing if you don't have to fight to get it."

The redhead stared into those similar eyes and the desperate need to die fled his body. "Fight..." He whispered. The one word made a blinding smile break out across the taller males face and the pale boy felt his heart flutter.

"So you won't jump from this bridge?"

"I won't."

"And you won't try to kill yourself?"

Crimson hair bounced when he shook his head. "I won't..." The blond gave a thankful sigh and moved to step away from the boy, but the arms around his waist refused to let him. He looked down into the heart shaped face, a tattoo exclaiming love on the creamy skin that he had not noticed before jumped out at him, but he pushed his curiosity away and gazed into the calculating eyes that seemed to shift from blue to green easily. "I won't... if you say we can meet again, if you promise to be my friend. My first friend." The smile on the bronze face fell a bit and his eyes filled with something the boy holding onto him could not name. Teal eyes fell to look at the grey sweater the man was wearing. "If that's okay."

"Why?" The redhead was beginning to hate that word.

"I'm reaching out... like you told me."

A long fingered hand lifted his face to look at him. Their eyes met and the blond whispered quietly through the sudden spike of wind. "We can met here. I'll be here every night after six." Cold lips pressed against the pale forehead. "I promise." The lips brushed against his skin as the words were spoken and his body craved it, never feeling a gentle touch before. It warmed him. It made something fill his body so completely he felt himself smile at it's presence.

The arms released the taller man, but he didn't step back, he let the moment seep into him and brighten the sadness that had captured him since he stepped onto the bridge that night. This is why he was drawn to this bridge... to save this life. "You should get home. It's probably late." The boy nodded, but lingered for a moment, turning away only when he was able to gather his courage to return to the hell he called home.

He had walked several feet before he turned to see the blond watching him go. "I'm Gaara."

"Naruto." The blond returned, smiling softly and the red head walked away. As soon as his feet stepped off the bridge, the misery he had felt earlier washed over him, but he held onto the promise of the blond, Naruto, who would be there at the bridge, waiting for him tomorrow. He held onto that as he made he way down the crowded, lonely streets.

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

The redhead rolled his eyes at the uneasy look in his companions eyes and hopped off the railing, opting to sit on the walkway so his blond friend would quit having a silent panic attack. His heart warmed and he smiled to himself at that thought. His _friend_. His friend who worried that he would fall back into the river below on accident. He looked over at the man as he took a seat beside him. The blue eyed man wore his grey sweater again, dark blue jeans and those ugly orange Chucks. They had been meeting every evening for a week and a half, and the only thing that changed in the blonds appearance was the color of his jeans.

The pale boy began to wonder if it was because the bronzed man was the first to pay attention to him, to cry for him, and call him friend, but his feelings were becoming different... warmer... more desperate for a touch. As if in tune to his thoughts a tan hand reached out and grabbed his fingers gently. The redhead smiled softly and brought his legs up to his chest, gazing at his knees. "Naruto... how old are you?"

The blond smiled at the timid question, gingerly holding the tiny hand with his own. "Eighteen. How old are you?" He asked, bumping shoulders with the male gently. He frowned at the small sigh the redhead let out.

"Sixteen, but I'll be seventeen in a few months." The slender boy answered, tracing the veins in his hands with his fingers. The blond laughed softly as the smaller boy laid his head on his shoulder and he rested his head on the others. A comfortable silence blanketed them, making the noise of the city seem to dim. The boy liked these silences, but he never got too comfortable in them. If the silence lasted too long a sorrowful feeling would creep into him and misery would try to drag him from the man he was beginning to adore.

Though they had spent twelve nights with each other, Gaara knew little about the man beside him. The blond wanted to hear what the teen wanted to say, he would coax him into talking, into laughing and smiling. Not everything they talked about was light though. Sometimes he would manage to get him to talk about the things that made him sad, things that brought tears to his eyes and caused bad memories to flood his mind.

And while he didn't know much about the blond, he trusted him. The man had cried for him and he cried with him every time the tears started. The blue eyed man never judged him, the only time his kind voice became harsh was when the boy began to call himself worthless and the harsh tone wasn't directed at him exactly, it was towards the people who he cursed for putting the idea that he was good for nothing in his head.

The blond didn't share much with his new friend, he wanted to be a comforting presence in the teens life and he focused their time together into helping the pale boy build himself up. It was harder than most would think, for there was no stable structure to start with. They had to start from the ground up and he was willing to do that. As long as the redhead continued to work with him, he would try to create a stable self image for the boy. It was hard sometimes to just sit there and listen when all he wanted to do was jump to his feet and beat the father of his friend, just as he had beaten his son. He wanted to throttle the siblings who just stood by as this happened. He grew angry at the children of the school his redhead attended for not being able too look past rumors and see the beautiful person that lay beneath the shell he wore in attempt to protect himself from their cruel words. He hated the world for the suffering the boy leaning against him had to live with.

But he pushed all that anger away. He could do nothing with his anger and it could destroy him if he let it get the better of him. So he just listened, letting the anger pass right through him and latching onto the teens rare moments of happiness... even if they were simple things like finding a new book, or the houseplants he tended to at his home.

His fingers slipped from the boys hand and wrapped around the slender shoulders. He couldn't explain the want he felt. The want to touch the boy, hold him gently, to feel the heat that rolled off his body so easily. He didn't have to explain it, because Gaara never asked. Besides, who else was there to question him?

The redhead felt the melancholy start to creep forward in their silence, reaching for the pair as if to rip them apart. So he broke it and began to speak. "Hinata talked to me again today."

The blond smiled. "The pale eyed girl?"

"Yes. She asked me to sit with her and her friends. It was awkward, but then the one called Kiba started flinging food at the kid who sleeps a lot. I don't remember his name." Naruto laughed at this and the redhead smiled. Whenever the blond laughed, the hovering sorrow that surrounded them dissipated instantly and joy filled its place. The teal eyed boy wondered about this but shoved it away. He would think about it later.

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

A month passed and the days grew colder, but still the blonds clothing never differed other than the color of his jeans. His grey wool sweater was his only barrier between his body and the biting wind. Gaara pulled his black parka tighter around his thin frame and still he shivered against the cold. "Naruto, don't you have a jacket? It's so cold. That sweater can't be keeping you warm." He grabbed the tan hands and winced at their frigid temperature before he started to rub them, hoping to use friction to warm his friend. "You're freezing."

The blue eyed man laughed lightly. "I don't really notice the cold. This sweater suits me just fine." He answered. Gaara lowered his eyes. It was yesterday when he suggested they go somewhere out of the cold. He didn't even add the fact he would pretend it was a date and his blond friend shot the idea down. He was told that if he was cold he should go home. In fact whenever he brought up the subject they should leave the bridge, Naruto would refuse and dodge the question. There were many things about the blond that struck the redhead as odd, but he had told him that he had always been an odd person.

The now warm hands suddenly pulled themselves from his and reached up, brushing the red hair to the side. Anger burned through the blond as he confirmed what he had thought he had been seeing. A large dark blue bruise covered the boys temple and disappeared into the crimson hair. "He hurt you again." The teal eyed boy just nodded, know that the blond didn't believe him when he said it had been an accident and he trusted the blond not to tell anyone. "Gaara. Please, I'm begging you, tell somebody. Let them get you help." Tears welled in those crystal-blue eyes and the younger boy fought back his tears as well. "Don't let him hurt you."

The pale redhead lunged into the older mans arms, burying his face in that grey wool sweater and inhaling the blonds earthy scent. "I know I shouldn't, but he's my dad Naruto. He's my dad." The tears won and poured down his face. "I know he loves me. Deep down he has to love me. I'm his son." The blond whispered comforting words into his ear, strong hands smoothing down his hair over the bruise he had so carefully covered so that his friend wouldn't see. "He loves me... He just doesn't know how to show it."

The sky was deep purple when he pulled back and looked up into the blonds painful smile. Naruto softly pressed several kisses to the bruise, forcing a few last tears to spill from his eyes. "You should go home kid. It's late."

"But we didn't get to talk much..." The disappointment flooded the younger boys voice.

The golden haired man shook his head and placed one last kiss to the boys forehead. "I'll be here tomorrow. Just like I promised." The shorter male nodded and lowered his eyes. He was about to turn and go, when the bolder version of himself reared his head and his arms wrapped around the older mans neck. He raised himself onto his tiptoes, bringing his face dangerously close to his companions. The blue eyes that he adored, admired and worshiped questioned his actions, but the blond did not move away from him. The redhead saw this as a good sign and he opened his mouth to speak.

"Kiss me Naruto. Please kiss me."

The older teen felt his mouth fall open and his eyes widen. The crimson haired beauty searched his face, his expression stuck between fear and desperation. The darker male felt sadness and worry sweep through him and he began to fear his choice at becoming the boys friend, but still, though he hated himself for it, he could not deny the boy he was falling for something that he himself wanted as well. And with that thought, he closed the distance between them.

Their lips met softly, tenderly as if they were both afraid of breaking the other. Teal eyes slid shut when the older teens mouth moved and deepened the kiss, tilting his head to the side and swiping his tongue across the pale youths lips. The tiny male parted his lips automatically, a pleasant tingle running through him when the tongue swept through his mouth. Large hands pulled the smaller body against him, greedily tasting the boy he'd saved, savoring each tiny sound he let out.

They broke apart, each feeling it had been far too short. The blond rested his forehead against the shorter boys who's breath fogged momentarily before disappearing. "Now go home." Blue eyes shimmered happily at the dazed look in the teen who just nodded and turned to go. When he reached the edge of the bridge, he turned back to gaze at the man who was quickly stealing his heart. He couldn't see his brilliant blue eyes, but he knew without a doubt they were on him. He waved slightly and grinned like a love sick girl when it was returned.

It wasn't until he was tucked away into his bed did he remember how pale the blond had been under the streetlights. He waved that thought off as dreams came to pull him away. Naruto had always had a deep bronze skin tone that he could remember, he wasn't pale... it was the sickly streetlights he told himself... they washed out the color of everything they touched...

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

"Why would you do that?" Blue eyes filled with pain and worry. Gaara stared up at him, suddenly nervous. The blonds hand raised and covered his light pink lips, starting at the redhead like he didn't know how to word what he wanted to say. "Gaara... why would you do that?"

The younger teen bit his lip and stared at his sneakers. "I wanted to spend time with you..." He whispered, hands reaching for the older man. "Next time... next time I'll go with her. I just wanted to see you, I wanted to be with you. Is that bad?"

Large hands lifted his face, blue eyes pleaded with him. "Gaara, you're making friends. Don't blow them off to spend time with me. You need friends your own age. If that girl, Matsuri, asks you out again, don't turn her down." The redheads heart tore in two. He didn't want to date anyone, he didn't want to be around anyone other than the man pleading with him gently. "Promise me. Gaara. Promise me you'll spend time with other people." Oh how that look made his heart beat faster, pumping blood through his body at an alarming rate. He would do anything the blond asked him to, but why did it have to be something like that.

He crumbled under his feelings and nodded in consent. "I promise. I promise." The misery fled the eyes boring into him, happiness replaced it and the painfully soft lips placed a delicate kiss on his forehead. "But why? I'm happy just being here with you. I don't need anyone other than you in my life." A suffocating feeling descended on his body, crushing him with its sorrow. The redhead had to work just to suck air into his lungs as anguish filled him. His grip on the grey sweater tightened and he pulled himself closer to the blond man before him.

"You can't get used to me. What if I were no longer here? What if we could never meet again? You need people to be there when I cannot be." The words that tumbled from that desired mouth were worse than the feeling crushing in around him. "We can't meet here forever, Gaara."

Tears leaked from teal orbs. "Why? You're not leaving are you?"

The blond brushed the droplets from his face with his thumb gently. "Someday... I will have to." The younger male collapsed against his body, the words that were spoken were not the ones he had been hoping to hear and agony ripped through him. It tore him to shreds. If the blond were to leave... there would be nothing left... there would be no one left. He would have no reason to go on. The redhead knew he had fallen for the man he clung so tightly to. Fallen fast and hard and that one sentence made him hit the ground painfully, shattering his heart and soul against the frozen, cruel, unforgiving ground. He couldn't stop the tears from coming and he gave up trying. When he looked up at the man silently holding him so gently, the sky had darkened and the disturbingly pale color returned to the usually sun kissed skin. He couldn't figure out how time seemed to disappear while he was with the man and no matter how he tried to slow it down, it still managed to slip away. It was like trying to keep water in his cupped hands. It vanished no matter how hard he held onto it.

He stood on his toes and pressed his mouth to the other mans. He forced all of his love into that kiss, heart filling with hope when he felt the feeling returned. His tongue explored the oddly cold cavern, putting each detail to memory. The way the other dominated the kiss, the soft sweet taste of him, the feeling of each movement of the muscle caressing his. When their tongues retreated to their own mouths, their lips still did not part. His arms wrapped around the mans neck while stronger arms folded around his waist. They pulled back after a few minutes, breathless, Gaara's fogging as it met the cold air, and both were slightly dazed, staring into each others eyes. "Naruto..."

"This is wrong, Gaara... This is wrong." The boy finally noticed the tears rolling down the blonds face, dropping to the sweater, staining the fabric black.

"It isn't. It doesn't matter if were both male, or if your a few years old. We both want it and that is all that matters." He whispered, kissing the tears away. The forlorn look in the eyes that stared at him stayed and golden strands tickled his face when the older male shook his head as if that was not what he had been talking about. Confusion settled into the boys mind. If it were not those two things, what else was there?

"If only it were that..." His whisper was mournful. "Go home, Gaara. Go home and dream. Dream of a world where it is possible for us to be together." The deep voice whispered in his ear before pushing him back the way he had came.

"Naruto..." His words floated lightly on the wind, the three words forming in his throat, but the blond held a hand up to silence him.

"Don't do it Gaara. Just go home." The redhead didn't look away from the man he was in love with until the bridge ended.

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

"I saw you on Aurora Bridge the other day." The red haired youth looked over at his new friend. Her soft bubble gum pink hair danced in the cold wind that bit at them as they made their way home from school. His heart warmed at the mention of the place. The days for him centered around meeting the man there everyday, their bond seemed to be growing stronger and it left the pale boy breathless. But despite all the feelings that clouded him while there, he began to notice things that left him worried.

The blond seemed to be getting paler by the day, his eyes lightening as well, his hair began to look washed out and his arms no longer seemed strong around him. He knew there was something wrong, but the man refused to talk about it. Then there was the atmosphere around the man who had stolen his heart. It seemed to become more suffocating than the last every time they had met. The anguish, the despair, the soul crushing agony became heavier at every touch, every kiss, every look. It worried him greatly. He didn't know what it was, what was causing it, but he knew he could not blame it on his imagination.

"It looked like you were talking to yourself." The girl whispered softly. The boy looked at her in shock. He had expected her to ask about the beautiful man he had surely been standing next to. "It was kind of weird, but I figured you must have gotten a headset for your cell." He froze in shock. He didn't have a cellphone, let alone a headset.

"I was talking to Naruto..." His eyebrows creased together in confusion.

She gave him a relieved smile. "See, I knew you had to have been on the phone."

Something clenched inside painfully. "Didn't you see the blond?" Aquamarine eyes searched the people around them. "On the bridge, didn't you see the blond man with me?" Her eyebrow quirked and she shook her head slowly. The world around him tilted and he felt an odd sensation crush around his heart.

"Gaara?" A hand reached for his arm but he took off before it could touch him. His backpack slapped loudly against his back and he tripped more than once, but he was on his feet before pain could set in. He had to get to the bridge... he had to see Naruto. His thoughts swirled madly. He couldn't focus on any one of them. He needed to be with the blond and that was all he knew.

He reached the empty bridge and collapsed against the rail, his back resting against its cold surface, head hanging between the knees brought against his chest as he thought about the man and all the time they had spent here in this very spot.

The blonds clothes never changed... his breath never fogged in the freezing air... he never allowed the redhead to talk him into leaving the bridge... he had never talked about his life... he never let the boy tell him how much he loved him and his body was always cold... always so cold. Hot, angry tears streamed down his face relentlessly while he waited for the man to show up. What was going on? Why didn't his friend see the blond? Nothing made any sense. When the tears felt ready to stop, they just came back with a vengeance. He didn't know what was going on, but the oppressing weight on his heart just increased.

"We can't meet anymore." He looked up at the sound of his beloveds voice beside him. Though the words sent him reeling in despair, he ignored them.

"I didn't hear you come up..."

"I'm very light on my feet."

"Your clothes never change..."

"I like this outfit."

"You're breath isn't fogging in the air..."

"I'm used to the cold."

"We never leave this bridge..."

"I'm not allowed to."

"Why?"

"I'm dead, Gaara."

The sobs wracked his thin frame at these words. "Dead? You can't be. I feel you... I smell you... I see you... I hear you... I taste you... You can't be dead!" Cold arms wrapped around him. "You can't be... you can't."

The blonds heart twisted painfully. He knew he shouldn't have met with the teen. He knew he should've stayed away after he had convinced the fragile boy in his arms not to jump. Convinced him not to make his mistake. The air around them filled with misery and weighed them down. "I don't understand." The pale hands gripped at his arms and the face turned to sob into his sweater.

"Ten years ago, I jumped from this bridge and died. The man I loved turned his back on me... He loved someone else. I never had a family, Gaara. I was always alone and all I could feel was sorrow. Just as you were, so I came here, to this very spot. I hadn't planned on jumping... I really hadn't been thinking about it at all. But the water seemed as sad as I had been and I wanted to become a part of it... I wanted to become apart of something so badly, I didn't care if I had to die to do it." His hands stroked the beautiful red hair. His lips kissed the silky flesh. "But I failed at that as well. I didn't find a heaven, I didn't find a hell, I didn't even become one with the river below."

Pain consumed the boy. This wasn't right, this isn't how it was supposed to work. "Why?" He wasn't even sure what he was asking about. There were so many whys in his head but he couldn't get a grasp on a single one of them.

"I don't know why I'm stuck here... but I think it was to stop you." Teal eyes finally looked up into light blue. How had he not noticed they were getting so pale? When he first met the man, his eyes had been as blue as the sky of a summer afternoon, now they were almost white, barely holding a blue tint. His hair was different as well. No longer a shining gold, it too had paled drastically, its color bleached out. And his skin! Oh his wonderful, golden skin was almost the same shade as his own. "You have a life in front of you Gaara, I couldn't stand by and watch you throw it away and become stuck in this limbo as I am. I couldn't let that happen to someone so beautiful." Their lips met in a heartbreakingly sweet kiss.

"Don't go. Please." Tears blurred his vision and he tried to stop them desperately, wanting to see the man so badly. The blond shook his head.

"I can't stay. Look what I'm becoming..." His arms spread and he gazed at his skin and fading clothes.

"Naruto please... I love you. Don't leave me!" Gaara became frantic.

"I have to. I have to."

"I'll stay with you then! I'll jump and we can be together!"

The usually gentle hands gripped his shoulders roughly, shaking him slightly. "Don't you dare!" Angry snapped the air around them violently. "You need to live Gaara." The words were desperate.

"I don't want to be without you." The redhead moaned, his breath shuddering.

The blond kissed him softly, their tongues tangling together, and Gaara knew they were saying goodbye to each other as well. It tore his soul apart. How could he live without the blond man? How could he face the day knowing he would never be seeing the gentle face in front of him ever again.

The mans arms crushed him to his chest, his lips brushing against his ear when they finally parted. "Promise me to live your life to the fullest. Promise me you will not throw it away. Be happy. Smile. Be a normal kid with normal friends... and when you die... I will be here waiting for you. No matter how much time passes between then and now... I will wait here in these waters, waiting only for you. But only if you do not end your life. I don't care if it's wrong. I love you Gaara. And though I hate the way your life has played out for you, I'm so glad I got to meet you. Promise me you won't kill yourself and I will wait."

"I promise." Their lips met again, the kiss gentle but for the teen it was the most passionate kiss he had ever received. "I love you." He whispered.

The blond gave him one last smile before he turned to the railing beside them, climbing up onto it easily. "Live. Live your life for a very long time, Gaara. I'll be waiting no matter how long it takes." His cold fingers brushed against the pale face one last time before he tipped back and hurled to the waters below. Gaara's tears renewed themselves as the blond disappeared halfway to the dark body below that showed no sign Naruto had been hurtling towards it only seconds before.

The sky was lightening with a new day before his tears stopped. He pushed off the rail and headed home. He would keep his promise and when he died, he would be with the one he loved.

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

Seven months later on the exact day he had said goodbye to the blond and made his promise to live, Gaara died.

His father, in a fit of rage, threw his youngest son out of the window of their eleventh floor apartment. The teens neck snapped on impact and before he could feel any pain, he was dead.

In the months before his death, his siblings had come to forgive him for the death he certainly had no control over. They had begun protecting him as best as they could from their fathers anger. They had began to love him, wanted to make him feel loved. Kankuro called the police and the ambulance while Temari rushed down to the street.

People were still screaming when she reached her youngest brothers body. She knew he was dead as soon as she saw him. His blood had pooled around him and still seeped from the wounds where the glass was sticking out of his body. His head was twisted in an odd angle as well as one of his arms and both of his legs. She sank to her knees, ignoring the pain as the glass cut through her jeans, and cried.

She didn't know what the saddest part of the scene before her was. It could've been it was her own flesh and blood was dead before her very eyes. It could've been the sorrow she felt for the pain she knew she herself had caused him for so many years. It could've been the fact he was still to young to have his life ripped away by such angry methods. But some part of her knew... it was the look of peace, the small smile on his face, that made the sight before her so unbearably horrible.

The blonde woman watched the water below the Aurora Bridge peacefully. Gaara had spent at least an hour a day, everyday here in this very spot. The air was so calm... so loving. Maybe this was why her brother had loved being here. She never really knew, for he had never told her. "Temari?" The woman looked over at her remaining sibling with a soft smile.

"I know. I just wanted to see if I could feel the same contentment he had seemed to feel after he came here. I think I do..." Kankuro nodded and motioned for her to follow. They still had the wake to attend, the friends her brother had made in the last year would all be attending and it was sure to be a crowed, somber affair.

As she turned to go, she could have sworn she saw a glimmer of violent crimson and shocking yellow beside her on the bridge reflected in the dark murky water below.

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**I like this story better when I was thinking it. I couldn't remember all the details I had in my head because my stupid pen doesn't move as fast as my brain. Ha ha. I wanted to write something sad, but I couldn't quite pull it out. If I made someone just the tiniest bit sad when they read this, I'll feel like I met my goal. -not that I wanna make people sad or anything-  
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**Reviews are awesome. Leave one? :D  
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